The annals of cinema history are strewn with great screen Santa Clauses. From traditional Kris Kringles (Richard Attenborough in Miracle On 34th Street) to bad Santas (Billy Bob Thornton in, er, Bad Santa), sheepish Clauses (James McAvoy in Arthur Christmas) to kick-ass Father Christmases (David Harbour in Violent Night, Kurt Russell in The Christmas Chronicles), we’ve had ’em all. Well, not quite all. This year, three decades after starring in holiday turkey Jingle All The Way, Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in festive mode and stepping into the boots of the man with the bag in Prime Video’s aptly titled The Man With The Bag, a Christmas heist joint directed by Adam Shankman (Hairspray) and co-starring Awkwafina and Alan Ritchson. Sound wild? Well, check out the teaser trailer below — it looks pretty wild too;
Okay, okay, okay, so 41 seconds isn’t very long and makes The Man In The Bag‘s teaser trailer mostly all tease and little trail, but the second we saw Arnie in the red, white, and bushy beard we knew we were sold on this one. And, credit where it’s due, 79-year-old Austrian and sometime Terminator Schwarzenegger looks to be having a whale of a time here playing a version of old Saint Nick whose precious sack has been stolen and who subsequently finds himself teaming up with Jack Reacher (well, Alan Ritchson, at least) to take it back from an Awkwafina played rogue elf. There’s knitwear, naughty elves, sleigh bells jingling, and Arnie maniacally shouting “I’m back!” What more could you ask for, honestly?
Oh. You could ask for a synopsis? Here you are then: “When Santa’s (Schwarzenegger) iconic red bag is stolen by a rogue elf with a grudge (Awkwafina), Christmas is suddenly at risk. With his biggest night of the year fast-approaching, Santa recruits a thief (Ritchson) from his ‘Naughty List’ who quickly assembles a crew of criminally skilled misfits — with a little help from elves and reindeer — to pull off the most unexpected heist of their lives.”
Described by Amazon as “a holiday heist adventure about second chances, unlikely friendships, and discovering that sometimes even Santa needs a little help delivering Christmas,” we’ll find out whether The Man With The Bag is an early Christmas gift — or a cinematic lump of coal — when Adam Shankman’s movie hits Prime Video on December 2. Here’s ho-ho-hoping it at least clears the Jingle All The Way bar…
